Washing machine



W. H. VOSS.

WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.3, 1911.

Patented Dec.5,1922.

3 SHEETS- SHEET W. H.'VOSS. WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG-3. l9l 7.

. Patented Dec. 5,1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. H. V0.88. WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED mm, 1911.

Patented Dec. 5,1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3' w w m I III; 1

flew M 34 mmw -k Patented Dec. 5, 1922.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. VO SS, 0F DAVENPORT, IOWA.

WASHING MACHINE.

Application filed August 3, 1917. Serial No. 184,187.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. Voss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Washing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to washing machines, and more particularly to a machine of this class in which the water is extracted from the clothes by centrifugal force, in-

stead of between rollers, and the method of I doing the same.

In the type of washing machines heretofore in use, many objectionable features are present, among which are that the water is removed by being squeezed between rotating rollers with the result of tearing the clothes, tearing off buttons, insufiicient extraction of moisture from the clothes, injury to the operator, rapid deterioration of the rubber rolls, and the excessive amount of power needed to drive the wringer when under extreme tension. In my new apparatus, these difficulties are entirely overcome by the elimination of the old form of roller wringer and the use of a new type of'device for separating the waterfrom the clothes which is accomplished by centrifugal force.

Among the objects'of my invention therefore is the method of extracting water from the clothes in a washing machine by whirling them in a circular path and removing the water by centrifugal force; .further to provide such form of extractor in which the clothes may be readily placed and whirled in a circular path due to the rotation of the container; further to provide means whereby the full load of the extractor will not be suddenly thrown onto the driving mechanism but will pick up gradually until full speed is acquired; further to provide an automatic brake for stopping the extractor when the driving clutch is thrown out; further to provide means whereby it will be impossible to throw the brake and driving clutch into operation at the same time; further to provide means to compensate for any undue vibration in the rotating drum; further the provision of a removable outer shell to retain the water within the extractor; further to provide a circular trough within which the extracted water will be collected and subsequently drained away; further to so combine the extractor and through the center washing apparatus on a stand that the extractor will be readily movable in the course of 1ts work from washing machine to rinse tub, to blue tub, to clothes basket, or vice versa as the case may be; and such further ob ects and advantages as will appear as my invention is more thoroughly understood.

My invention further resides in sue-h combinatlon, construction and arrangement of parts as disclosed in the accompanying rawlngs, in which, while I-have illustrated a preferred embodiment thereof, I desire itto be understood that the same is susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is aside elevation of a combination was mg machine, stand and extractor, embodying my inventio 1 Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through Fig. 1 taken on a plane extending of the extractor.

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view taken on a vertical transverse plane through the bottom'portion of the extractor.

Fig. 4 is. a sectional detail view of the clutch mechanism for driving the extractor,

and which is located underneath the stand as shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates an elongated stand having mounted thereon at one end a washing machine 2, and on the remaining portion for longitudinal" travel therealong the extractor 3, which is supported on the frame work 4, which carries suitable rollers 5 forengagement with thetrack 6 arranged longitudinally of the sides of the table 1, and by reason of which rollers and track the extractor may be adjusted' longitudinally of the frame to any position between the washing machine tub and the end of the frame. The washing machine located on the end of the table 1 comprises the usual tub 7, in which is located a dasher, of suitable gears located within the casing 8, which gears are rotated by means of the shaft 9, which shaft is driven through the medium of intermediate gears by the connecting rod 10 mounted upon the crank arm 11. Extending longitudinally underneath the table 1 is the main drive shaft 12, which is operatively connected with the crank 11 which is operated by means of the washing machine, the gearing to be herein later described and the extractor, by which arrangement the washing machine and extractor may be either simultaneously or selectively operated as desired. It is 'also to be noted that the extractor 3 can be operated from the drive shaft 12 in any one of its plurality of adjusted positions along the stand or table 1. Suitable motive power such as a motor 13 is provided beneath the stand 1, and suitably connected to turn the drive shaft 12.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be noted that my improved extractor consists of a frame work or support 4, there being one such support on either side, the upper end of which supports are connected by the rigid cross bar 14 suitably secured thereto by means of screws, bolts, or the like. 'Rigidly secured to this cross bar 14 is the bracket member 15, which comprises an upper collar 16 and the lower bearing member 17 suitably mounted in which bearing member is the vertical shaft 18, which passes through the collar 16. Secured to the shaft 18 by means of a suitable pin 19 is the bevelled gear 20, which bevelled gear is of suflicient length to fit for rotation between the upper end of the lower bearing 17 and the lower end of the collar 16. Also secured to the upper end pf the shaft 18 by means of a suitable pin 21 is a casting 22, which rests at its lower end upon the upper portion of the collar 16. The casting 22 is provided at diametrically opposite points with extensions 23 and 24, upon which are vertically extending projections 25 and 26. Pivotally mounted upon the inner faces of projections 25 and 26 is the ring 27, which pivotal mounting is effected by means of the diametrically opposite bolts 28 and 29, which bolts extend through the upright projections and registering holes in. the ring 27 and are secured in place by suitable nuts upon their inner end.

The ring 27 is also provided with diametrically opposite perforations 30, the axis of which is at right angles to the axis of the bolts 28 and 29. Extending through the apertures 30 are bolts or pins 31, upon which are pivotally mounted the ears 32, which are formed at diametrically opposite positions upon the ring 33,'which ring is suitably secured by rivets or otherwise to the. bottom of the extractor 3. Formed upon the underneath side of the ring 33 are the downwardly extending projections or bosses 34 and 35, which are located adjacent the bolts 28 and 29. The extensions 23 and 24 are extended outwardly in the form of arms 36 and 37 and 41.

place by fitting over the projections 34, 36, and 35, 37, respectively are coil springs 40 There are likewise similar diametrically op osite projections and coil springs located 90 degrees farther around the circle (not shown in Fig. 3) thus making four coil springs, each 90 degrees apart. From the structure just described, it will be seen that 1 have provided upon the shaft 18 a form of flexible coupling or knuckle joint,

which will have movement in all directions by virtue of the ring 27 being pivoted on the bolts 28 and 29 and to the ring 33 at points in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first mentioned pivot points by the bolts 31, only one of which is shown in Fig. 3. This construction will permit the extractor "when rotating to accommodate itself to, or compensate for, any undue vibraside casing, the springs will have reached their limit of compression, thus preventing any such contact.

Also secured to the cross bar 14 by means of suitable bars or braces 42 is the annular shaped pan 43, which is provided with the upwardly extending inner wall 44, and a similar outer wall 45; the inner wall 44 of which is formed of such a radius as to lie entirely outside the arms 36 and 37 and springs 40 and 41, in order to permit a free rotation of these parts within the interior opening of the annular pan. Upwardly extending from this pan and secured to the bottom thereof by means of brackets 46 is the imperforate cylinder 47, the walls of which are suitably spaced from the perforate walls 48 of the extractor. The cylinder 47 may be readily detached from the brackets 46 by simply unscrewing the wing nuts 49 and allowing the bolts to be withdrawn from the slots 50. The extractor is provided with a cone shaped imperforate bottom 51 upon the perimeter of which is mounted the perforate sides 48, which sides may be formed of wire netting ,or other suitable material. As seen in Fig. 2, the perforate sides of the extractor extend upwardly a suitable distance and are formed at their top edge with the inwardly extending portion, 52. Also the imperforate cylinder 47 extends upwardly a slight distance above the top of the perforate drum 48 and is formed with an inwardly overhanging portion 53.

Engaging with the bevelled gear 20 is" a second bevelled gear 54, which is suitably keyed or pinned upon the horizontal shaft 55, which is rotatably mounted in the box- 1,488,149 A l a;

ing 56, which boxing forms part of the bracket 15. Upon the outer end of the horizontal shaft 55 is keyed the bevelled ar 56, which in turn meshes with the bevslled gear 57 keyed or pinned to the upper end of the vertical shaft 58, the lower endof which is similarly connected by means of bevelled gears 59 and 60 with the horizontal shaft 61. The horizontal shaft .61 is cut in two at the point 62,-see Fig. 4, thus forming the two parts 63- and 64. Upon the shaft 63 is splined the shifting portion of the positive clutch 65, which is formed with the circumferential groove 66, in which is mounted a suitable collar 67 carried upon the arms 68,'see Fig. 2, which arms are in turn integrally formed with the collar 69 slidably mounted upon the shaft 63. The sliding clutch 65 is formed upon its end with the usual clutch teeth 70, which in turn mesh with similar teeth 71, which are formed upon the. adjacent end of the sleeve which is loosely mounted for rotation on the shaft 64. Upon the other end of the sleeve 72 is a flange 73 provided at intervals around its circumference with slots 74 within which slots fit a plurality of projections 75 formed upon the exterior of the friction disc flange 76, which in turn is integral with the sleeve '77, also loosely mounted for rotation upon the shaft 64.

At a suitable distance from the end of the friction disc 76, suitably keyed or pinned to the shaft 64, is a second friction disc 78, which is rovided with the annular sockets 79 an 80, within which are tightly mounted the fibrous friction pads 81 and 82. \Vithin the cavity 83 of the sleeve 7 2 and keyed or pinned to the shaft 64 is a collar 84 and between which collar and the inner end of the sleeve 77, and encircling the shaft 64 is a coil spring 85, the function of which is to continually press the outer face of the friction disc 76 against the friction block or pad 81, the purpose for which will later appear.

Bearing against the face of the friction block 82 is the face 86 of the brake casting 87. which brake casting is formed with the collar 88 loosely mounted upon the shaft 64. Depending from the lower side of the brake casting is the which is secured by rivets or otherwise to the yoke 90, which yoke is integral at its other end to the collar 69. -Also secured to the yoke 90 by means of the perforated ear 91 is a coil spring 92, which as seen in Fig. 2, is secured at its other end to a suitable projection 93 on the inside of the site end is secured to the lower end of the rocker plate 95, which turn pivoted at 96 to the lower portion of 78. This construction permits in the structure shown in extension or flange 89,

rocker plate is in Y the upright support 4. Also pivoted to the rocker plate and at the outer end thereof is the vertical rod 97, which carries upon its upper end the handle 98. The upper end of the rod 97 adjacentthe handle 98 is mounted for suitable movement in the slot'99 provided in the casting 20', which casting is also suitably secured to the upright standard 4. At the lower end of the slot 99 and joining therewith is a lateral recess 100, in which. the bent portion 101 adjacent the handle 98 will be placed when it is desired to lock the driving mechanism in operative position. At the lower end of the rod 97 is a spring whose tendency is to force this rod in anupward direction, thus normally tending to keep the rocker plate 95 in an inoperative position. As shown, the connecting rod 94 may be 'eadily operated either with the hand or the oot. i

In the construction of the slip clutch, between the faces of the block 81 and the disc 76, it is to be noted that the flange 73 is held from disengagem nt with the friction disc 78-by virtue of the fact that atsuitable intervals around this friction disc are mounted inwardly extending lugs .102, which are bolted or otherwise suitably se cured to the flange'103 of the friction disc the flanged end of the clutch sleeve 72 to rotate adjacent to the friction block 81, but yet prevents it from being entirely pulled away therefrom.

In the structure of the annular shaped pan 43 at the bottom o-f the extractor, it is to be noted that there is attached thereto a suitable drain spout 104 for draining away the water collected therein, and which drain spout is provided at its outer end with a suitable plug or stopper 105.

Attention is here called to the fact Fig. 4, the slidable driving portion 65 of the positive vclutch is secured to one end ofthe yoke 90, while the brake device 87 is rigidly secured to the other end of this same yoke 90. It will thus be readily apparent that by this construction it will be impossible to throw both the brake and the positive clutch into operative position at 'the same, time, and when the positivev clutch is out of operative engag ment, the brake 87 will be automatica ly throwninto engagement with the friction block 82, by the action of the spring 92 in exerting a pull on the end of the yoke 90. By this arrangement of the driving clutch, the brake will automatically engage its respective friction block immediately upon release of the positive driving clutch and thus stop the rotation of the extractor within a yery short time without any further attention on the part of the operator.

Upon the end of the shaft 63, remote that r from the clutch 65, is mounted a bevelled gear 106, which is in turn driven by the bevelled gear mounted on the drive shaft 12. By this arrangement, rotation is transmitted to the shaft 63.

In the operation of my improved appa- Y ratus, it will be apparent that the extractor may be longitudinally moved along the stand or table 1 as desired, and thus may be used in conjunction with the washing machine tub 7 and readily moved as desired into suitable position to cooperate with a rinse tub, a blue tub, clothesbasket, or any other appliance used in the course of washing. It

Wlll also be apparent that the Washing apparatus and the extractor may be driven either simultaneously or selectively through their respective connection with the drive shaft 12. r

The operation of the extractor will now 'be pointed out: The wet clothes immediately upon removal from the tub will be placed within the perforate drum 48, which drum by virtue of its connection with the driving machinery, Will be rotated at a suitable speed, the result of which will be to expel the water from the clothes by centrifugal force. .AS the water leaves the clothes and flies from the drum 48, it will strike the sides of the imperforate drum 4?, and in turn will fall into the pan 43, from whence it may be drained through the drain pipe 104 by simply removing the stopper 105. Due to the universal connection or knuckle joint by Which the drum 48 is mounted upon the shaft 18, the extractor will be entirely free from any injurious vibrations for the reason that such vibrations will be readily taken care of by the coil springs 40 and 41 as the drum 48 is tilted upon the universal joint.

s hereinbefore explained, immediately upon releasing the. positive clutch 65, the brake 87 will automatically engage the friction block 82, as a result of the pull on the yoke 90 of the spring 92, and will thus soon stop the various shafts, and in turn the drum 48. As also hereinbefore explained, by virtue of the fact that the positive clutch 65 and the brake drum 87 are both mounted to move in unison with the yoke 90, it will be impossible to throw" the positive clutch into operative position at the same time that the brake 87 is in operative position, it being necessary from the very nature of the connection between these parts that only one of them be operating at one time.

One of the important features of my invention resides in the fact that when the positive clutch 65 is thrown into engagement with its sleeve 72, there will be no sudden jar in the mechanism due to the sudden pick- I ing up of the load of the extractor drum 48.

This is brought about by the fact that when the clutch 65 is thrown in operative position the friction disc 76, which is resiliently held by means of the spring 85 against the face of the friction block 81, will at first slip over the face of this friction block, and as a result of the pressure of the spring 85 will gradually pick up the load, thus preventing any sudden jars or shocks due to an abrupt-starting of the extractor. Should the extractor mechanism or any of the parts become disarranged in any manner and suddenly stopped, this slip clutch will again come into play, and thus in an obvious manner prevent any of the parts of the mecha nism from becoming broken or disarranged.

Since the cone shaped bottom 51 of the extractor drum is imperforate, it is not necessary that the bottom of the pan 43 extend entirely across the space underneath the extractor, the sloping sides of the cone shaped bottom 51 obviously draining the water entirely therearound into theannular shaped pan 43, thus leaving the entire central portion underneath the extractor drum free to be occupied by the projecting arms, springs and other revolving parts. The removable feature of the imperforate drum 47 isof great value from a sanitary standpoint, since during the course of washing the water may often be used several "times, and thus carry considerable accumulation of dirt. By simply loosening the nuts 49, the drum 4? may be readily removed, which greatly facilitates the thorough cleaning of these parts of the extractor.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In apparatus of the class described, a support, an annular shaped pan on said support, an impcrforate drum secured to the bottom of said pan between the flanges thereof, a perforate drum rotatably mounted in said imperforate drum, and means to rotate said perforate drum.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a support, av pan on said support having an aperture in thebottom thereof, an imperforate drum secured to the bottom of said pan between the aperture and the outer wall of the pan, a perforate drumrotatably mounted within the imperforate drum and means to rotate the perforate drum.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a support, an annular shaped pan on said support, an imperforate drum secured to said pan, a vertical shaft extending through the opening in said pan, and a perforate drum resiliently mounted on said shaft and within. said imperforate drum.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a shaft, a perforate drum resiliently mounted 01111 ftaid shaft, and means for rotating said s a: F

5. In apparatus of the class described, a vertical shaft, a erforate drum resiliently mounted on said s aft, and means for rotating said shaft.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a vertical shaft. a frame secured to said shaft, 4 and a perforate drum resiliently mounted on said frame.

7. In apparatus of the class described, a vertical shaft, a frame secured to said shaft comprising a plurality of outwardly extending arms, a spring on each arm, and a per-. forate drum mounted on said springs.

8. In apparatus of the class described, a

. vertical shaft, a frame secured-wto'said shaft comprising a plurality of outwardly extending arms, a coil spring on each arm, and a perforate drum mounted on said springs.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe 15 my name to this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. VOSS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM E. PULs, MARY E. Bunkowsa 

